


A Walk in the Rain

by mickie



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Case Fic, M/M, November 2019, Sherlock Challenge, Water, fire escape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:35:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22043419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mickie/pseuds/mickie
Summary: Sherlock and Jim take a walk in London to discuss a case.
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/Jim Moriarty
Comments: 4
Kudos: 56
Collections: Sherlock Challenge





	A Walk in the Rain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fabricdragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabricdragon/gifts).



> This is my November entry for the Sherlock Challenge on Tumblr. The prompt is water. Fabricdragon gave me the extra prompt of fire escape. I see this as more of a window in Sherlock and Jim's life together. They walk around London, solve cases, get tea at cafés, and do things to bother Mycroft. Yes, I'm behind. December's entry should be up soon.

**A Walk in the Rain**

“We should go for a walk as soon as you’re done snacking,” Sherlock stated while putting on his coat and grabbing an umbrella.

James looked up from his computer and a plate of decadent pastries that he’d acquired from Chez Mademoiselle and was slowly nibbling on. “What does Mycroft want?” he asked around a cherry chartreuse almond cream puff.

“From Mycroft’s analysis, Lady Smallwood has some sort of security leak,” Sherlock explained while rolling his eyes. “It’s critical because we lost a capable agent and a 00 had to get involved to salvage the information transfer.”

“Lady Smallwood is a security leak,” Jim mumbled. “The woman is utterly worthless.”

“Well, yes,” Sherlock agreed. “But Mycroft sent an enormous amount of information that spans several years and many cases and he’d like me…”

“Ahem.” James picked up a chocolate hazelnut millefeuille and licked some of the creme oozing out of one side.

“He’d like us to review it and see if we can either find the leak or give him something so that he has a direction to start looking,” Sherlock answered.

“And what sort of a bribe did big brother promise us?” 

Sherlock chuckled. “He’s lowballing.”

“Nothing?”

Sherlock smiled wanly. “This is important but he doesn’t want to admit that.”

“As if.”

“Exactly.”

“Let’s go for that walk even if the weather looks like it’s going to be dismal,” Jim said. 

~~

They walked for several hours, simply soaking in the atmosphere of London, Sherlock occasionally noting things of interest, and enjoying a few cups of tea from various cafés. Eventually Sherlock described the case. “Agent William Kirkpatrick was killed while in Dispur, India.”

“Assam.”

“Yes.”

“We should go there,” Jim said. “It’d be a nice holiday, but do go on.”

Sherlock nodded. “He was killed by snakebite. They found and promptly terminated a _Bungarus fasciatus_ , the banded krait, in his room. Somehow, he’d managed to leave the three stick drives with information on the militants with a friend the night before.”

“A friend? That doesn’t sound very professional,” Jim said, sighing.

“I think this was a friend friend.”

“Ohhhhhhh, got it.” Jim chuckled. “Had a friend friend in every port.”

“Something like that,” Sherlock said. “The _friend_ friend knew enough to call the embassy and the call was eventually routed to MI6. They pulled the trigger and sent in a 00.”

“Might be considered a teensy bit of an overreaction,” Jim said. “But considering one agent was lost and I assume the information was gold.”

“Yes, but here’s the interesting part,” Sherlock continued. “The 00 survived not one, not two, but three assassination attempts in getting there.”

“Oopsies! Known itinerary.”

“Obviously. She then arrived at the meeting place to find it burning and the friend friend missing.” Sherlock smiled wanly. “After some derring-do involving the firescape and a Ferrari, which those 00s specialize in, the friend friend was rescued.”

“The incompetent minions were terminated,” Jim finished Sherlock’s summary. “The information was safely secured but the mole has been neither identified nor located.”

“You’re not involved are you?”

“Noooooooo, darling.” Jim brought Sherlock’s hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles. “I don’t overtly tangle with the British government since we’ve started dating.” Sherlock kissed the side of Jim’s face. “What have you figured out so far?” Jim asked.

“The snakebite is suspect because even though the venom of the banded krait is highly toxic, the animals themselves are nocturnal, exceedingly shy, and tend to hide during the day.”

“Good,” Jim said. “And while their venom is nasty, their rate of envenomation when biting defensively is stupidly low.”

“Do I want to know why you know?”

“Always looking for clever ways to remove stage props from the stage.”

“James.” Sherlock rolled his eyes. Jim shrugged cheerfully and Sherlock wrapped his arm around the smaller man’s waste. “We also know that a competent agent has ways of dealing with a snakebite; they don’t kill that quickly.”

Jim leaned into Sherlock. “But someone knew where he was and got a poisonous snake in his room, just as a decoy.”

“Yes.”

“Clever, very clever. And then they tracked a 00.”

“Until she ditched the planned itinerary.”

“They like to do that, I’ve noticed,” Jim said.

“They do,” Sherlock agreed. “So that’s the case of interest. Obviously someone in intelligence gave the locations of the agent and the 00 to the militants behind this and they followed up.”

“Of course.”

“Any ideas?”

Jim batted his eyelashes at Sherlock. “I might.”

“And?”

“And I haven’t been properly compensated for any sort information,” Jim teased.

“How certain are you?” Sherlock asked, pulling his phone put from his pocket. He felt a few raindrops and looked up. The sky was dark and threatening.

Jim glared at him. “Don’t make me hurt you or withold desserts and sex.”

“But would you though?”

“No,” Jim grumbled. “Damn, it’s going to rain. No, I’m not going to but I will be cranky if my consulting services are held in such low regard”

Sherlock tapped out a text to Mycroft. “I’ll bargain hard.”

“I don’t want to get water on my suit,” Jim grumbled. “But fine, I hate to give up a contact I’ve used before.” He sighed dramatically. “Vivian Norbury, Lady Smallbrain’s secretary has a friend, not a friend friend, because she’s just hideous, and this friend procures unusual compounds through me. Recently some batrachotoxin, which is a fairly similar but fast acting neurotoxin, was requested by him and provided.”

“I see,” Sherlock repeated, opening the umbrella and covering Jim with it. He didn’t care if he got wet.

“Thank you.”

“Welcome. What else can you tell me about Ms. Norbury?”

“Lots of things but it will cost the Iceman a pretty penny,” Jim said but then glanced up at the umbrella. “Did you steal Mycroft’s umbrella?”

Sherlock smiled wickedly. “Anything to keep the water off my beloved.”

The End.


End file.
